Sunday, 9 January 2011

What have we learned from our first term?

Phew the first week back of the second term is over and here is Elf whacked out watching The Clone Wars. Let's review what we've learned during the first term shall we?

You can get nits when you are not actually at school!

Children's behaviour in general deteriorates towards the end of term, it's not just my bad parenting

After No 2 occurs, a hard reining in needs to occur - it's not all because they are tired (see photo above, day 1 of term 2 and he's watched The Clone Wars after school in its entirety) but because you have taken your eye off the ball slightly. After all, we've got them at school now, what an achievement. What? I have to continue to parent? Oh right!

School makes Christmas even more exciting - all those external influences now manifesting in ways such as "Everyone else is getting a DS" etc

You will turn up at parties where you don't know anyone

You will turn up at the next party after the one where you didn't know anyone and expect to drop'n'run, only to find all the mums you like are staying and you have a good old gossip about the school

School letters don't always get to you and you don't realise it's school photo day/mufti day/dress-like-a-pirate day etc

When the school letter says a "child-led project", it actually means mum and dad work their socks off to produce something a child could NEVER have made

Although you are happy your child is a shepherd, you were quite hoping that they'd be Mary or Jospeh, or a narrator

When you are asked to bake cakes for a coffee morning, you should actually ice them to make them pretty enough for people to buy them. In fact you should realise that a coffee morning is when you are expected to buy the cakes that have been made along with stewed tea/muddy coffee - ie you should take money!

You realise you are going to be a competitive parent if you are not careful when you hear yourself saying "Well done for going up to Red reading level. Who else went up to that level?" and then asking the teacher of the next class up "What reading level do you expect them to be on when they come up to Year 1?"

Things work the way you don't expect - like when you are called into the school because your son has been given a black eye by someone (when you were expecting to be called in for the other way around!